JP2013520308A - Fluid dispenser member and fluid dispenser apparatus including the fluid dispenser member - Google Patents

Abstract

A fluid dispenser member (10) comprising a body (11) and manually driven dispenser means (20) movable between a rest position and an administration position within the body (11), said dispenser means (20) Is elastically biased toward the rest position by the elastic member (100), and the elastic member (100) has a plurality of spring cells (C) arranged in parallel around the vertical axis (X) of the elastic member (100). A spring stage (N) is formed, and the elastic member (100) has a plurality of spring stages (..., N-1, N, N + 1, ...) stacked along the vertical axis (X). The spring stage (N) has an upper corrugated ring (110) having a plurality of corrugated portions and a lower corrugated ring (120) having a plurality of corrugated portions, and an upper side of the corrugated portion. The relative arrangement of the bottom and bottom A plurality of contact points (P) between the upper corrugated ring (110) and the lower corrugated ring (120) are determined to be distributed around the longitudinal axis (X), and the spring cell (C) A fluid dispenser member formed between two adjacent contact points (P) of the stage (N), wherein the elastic member is produced by injection molding of a synthetic material POM.
[Selection] Figure 3

Description

  The present invention relates to a fluid dispenser member and to a fluid dispenser device including the dispenser member.

  Fluid dispenser members are known and are used in particular in the fields of medicine, perfume and cosmetics, and in particular for selectively releasing fluids such as liquids or powders. Examples of such fluid dispenser members include pumps, valves, and air expellers. The fluid dispenser member is typically combined with a reservoir storing fluid to form a fluid dispenser device.

  A conventional fluid dispenser member comprises a body and dispenser means. The dispenser means is moved between the rest position and the administration position by the user's hand inside the main body, and fluid can be discharged by this movement. Usually, an elastic member such as a spring is used for the purpose of biasing the dispenser means toward the rest position. Therefore, in order to move in the direction of the administration position, the user must apply a force. When the user stops applying force, the dispenser means is automatically returned to the rest position by the elastic member. Usually, a metal helical spring is used as the return spring.

  There are several problems with this. That is, particularly in the case of drugs, the metal may interact with the fluid, which may adversely affect the fluid to be administered. In addition, the elasticity of the helical spring is not always good enough, and the spring size needs to be increased to ensure safe and reliable operation of the dispenser member. However, depending on the application, it may be desirable that the elastic member has a small size. In addition, the spiral spring is composed of a series of turns, and is not sufficient to prevent creep when subjected to stress. In addition, metal springs are usually made by deforming a continuous strip or coil, but the ends of the spring are never completely flat. For this reason, the elastic deformation stress is unevenly distributed in the axial direction. In addition, inconveniences in one of a series of windings can greatly reduce the performance of the spring, which is also a device that administers multiple doses, particularly multiple doses. This may be a problem in devices that are intended to be driven.

  Patent Documents 1 and 2 describe a spring made of a plastic material, and the spring is formed by integrally connecting a plurality of deformable rings by an axial bridge portion made of a hard material. . Therefore, there is a large variation in the stress generated during elastic deformation. A strong stress is applied to the portion included in the deformed ring portion, but almost no stress is applied to the portion included in the rigid bridge portion. Therefore, there is no guarantee that the elasticity of this type of spring will be maintained over a long period of time. In addition, the deformability of this type of spring is not very high because of the bridge of hard material.

EP 1 477 234 EP 1 565 270

An object of the present invention is to provide a fluid dispenser member that does not cause the above problems, and a fluid dispenser device including such a fluid dispenser member.
Specifically, an object of the present invention is to provide a fluid dispenser member that can reduce or even eliminate the risk of harmful interaction between a fluid and the components that make up the fluid dispenser member. To do.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a fluid dispenser member that can achieve the best elasticity characteristics in combination with the maximum miniaturization.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a fluid dispenser member having improved properties for preventing creep when subjected to stress.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a fluid dispenser member that can significantly adjust load and deformation depending on the type of device used.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a fluid dispenser member that is simple and inexpensive to manufacture and assemble, and that is safe and reliable when in use.

  Accordingly, the present invention provides a fluid dispenser member comprising a main body and manually driven dispenser means movable between a rest position and a dosing position within the main body, wherein the dispenser means is rested by an elastic member. The elastic member is elastically biased in a position direction, and the elastic member forms a spring stage in which a plurality of spring cells are arranged in parallel around the longitudinal axis of the elastic member, and the elastic member has a plurality of spring stages. The spring stage has an upper corrugated ring having a plurality of corrugated portions and a lower corrugated ring having a plurality of corrugated portions, and the spring stage has an upper side of the corrugated portion. The relative arrangement between the upper and lower undulation rings is determined such that a plurality of contact points between the upper undulation ring and the lower undulation ring are distributed about the longitudinal axis. Two of the steps Formed between the adjacent contact points, the elastic member is manufactured by injection molding of POM is a synthetic material, a fluid dispenser member that.

Further, as an effective configuration, the upper undulation ring of the spring stage forms a lower undulation ring of the spring stage located immediately above, and the lower undulation ring of the spring stage is a spring located immediately below. It is assumed that the upper corrugated ring of the step is formed.
Further, as an effective configuration, the position of the contact point of the spring stage is shifted from the position of the contact point of the spring stage immediately above and the spring stage immediately above, and the contact point of the spring stage is the position of the spring stage immediately above. Located in the middle of the two contact points, and further in the middle of the two contact points of the spring stage immediately below, so that the elastic deformation force of each spring cell is distributed almost uniformly throughout each spring cell. Let's say.

Further, as an effective configuration, the upper end and the lower end in the axial direction of the elastic member are formed by flat rings.
Further, as an effective configuration, the synthetic material includes a material having one or both of a property of enhancing elasticity and a property of preventing creep, that is, one or both of glass fiber and carbon nanotube, And

Further, as an effective configuration, the fluid is a liquid or powder medicine.
Further, as an effective configuration, the dispenser member is a pump or a valve, the dispenser means is a pump piston or a valve member, and the elastic member forms a return spring of the pump or the valve. .
Further, as an effective configuration, the dispenser member is a compressed air discharger, the dispenser means is a piston of the compressed air discharger, and the elastic member forms a return spring of the compressed air discharger. Suppose you are doing.

The present invention also provides a fluid dispenser device comprising a reservoir for storing the fluid and further comprising the fluid dispenser member described above.
These and other features and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent upon reading the following description of non-limiting examples with reference to the accompanying drawings.

It is a schematic sectional drawing which shows a part of fluid dispenser member by the 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is a figure similar to FIG. 1, and is a figure which shows another embodiment of the fluid dispenser member of this invention. It is a schematic perspective view which shows the detail of the elastic member in effective embodiment of this invention.

  FIG. 1 shows a first embodiment of a fluid dispenser member 10 of the present invention. The fluid dispenser member 10 in the first embodiment is a pump, and has a main body 11 in which a piston 20 slides, and a manually driven dispenser means is formed in the piston 20. When the piston 20 is moved toward the administration position within the body 11, a predetermined amount of fluid is released from the dispenser opening 12 of the pump by the piston. Typically, the dispenser opening is connected to a dispenser head (not shown), which has a spray opening through which fluid is actually administered to the user.

The piston 20 is urged toward the rest position by the elastic member 100. When the user manually drives the pump, the piston 20 moves in the pump body 11 and compresses the elastic member 100. When the user stops applying driving force, the piston 20 of the pump 10 is automatically returned to the rest position shown in FIG. 1 by the compressed elastic member 100.
Although the pump shown in FIG. 1 is a specific type of pump, it goes without saying that the present invention is not limited to the specific pump, and may be combined with any type of pump. It should also be noted that a valve can be used as the fluid dispenser member of the present invention. In the configuration using the valve, the valve member instead of the piston moves inside the appropriate valve body against the force of the elastic member.

  FIG. 2 illustrates another embodiment of the fluid dispenser member 10 of the present invention. The fluid dispenser member 10 in the second embodiment is a pneumatic discharger having a main body 11. The piston 20 moves inside the main body 11 to compress the air, whereby the compressed air discharger is It is formed. With this compressed air, a predetermined amount of fluid (usually powder) disposed downstream of the pneumatic discharger can be administered. When the user depresses the pneumatic ejector piston 20, the elastic member 100 and the air stored in the pneumatic ejector 11 are compressed.

This compressed state is maintained until compressed air is released. It is released, for example, when a predetermined compression threshold is reached or when a suitable opening 12 is mechanically opened. Thereafter, when the user stops applying the driving force to the piston 20 of the pneumatic compressor, the piston of the pneumatic ejector is automatically returned to the rest position by the compressed elastic member 100.
The user may then change the fluid cartridge (or similar) of the fluid dispenser device combined with the pneumatic ejector to allow the next dose of fluid to be dispensed. Again, it will be appreciated that FIG. 2 is merely one particular embodiment and that the invention is not limited to the embodiment shown in the figure.

  The elastic member 100 in the present invention has a special structure that is significantly different from the spiral spring normally used in this type of device. FIG. 3 is a schematic perspective view showing an effective embodiment of the elastic member 100. The elastic member includes a plurality of spring cells C, and the plurality of spring cells C are arranged in parallel around the longitudinal axis X of the elastic member 100. The plurality of parallel spring cells C form a spring stage N. The elastic member 100 in the present invention has a plurality of spring stages N−2, N−1, N, N + 1, N + 2, and N + 3 as shown in FIG. 3. As a matter of course, the number of spring stages may be other than this. The spring stages are stacked one by one along the vertical axis X.

  Here, looking more specifically at the spring stage N, the spring stage is composed of an upper corrugated ring 110 having a plurality of corrugated portions and a lower corrugated ring 120 also having a plurality of corrugated portions. The upper undulation ring 110 and the lower undulation ring 120 are arranged so as to be in contact with each other at a plurality of contact points P distributed around the vertical axis X. That is, the valley portion of the upper wavy ring comes into contact with the top portion of the lower wavy ring to form the contact point P. In this way, one spring cell C is formed between two adjacent contact points P. Thus, a plurality of spring cells C are arranged along the circumference of the spring stage N.

  As can be seen in FIG. 3, the upper corrugated ring of spring stage N forms the lower corrugated ring of spring stage N + 1 located immediately above. The lower corrugated ring of the spring stage N forms the upper corrugated ring of the spring stage N-1 located immediately below. In other words, each spring stage has the same number of spring cells C and contact points P. Specifically, the position of the contact point of the spring stage N is deviated from the positions of the two contact points of the spring stage N + 1 immediately above and the spring stage N-1 immediately below. The position of the contact point of the spring stage N is an intermediate position between two contact points of the spring stage N + 1 immediately above, and is an intermediate position of the two contact points of the spring stage N-1 immediately below. In other words, the contact point of one spring stage is the crest of the spring cell immediately above and the spring cell of the spring stage immediately below. And vice versa.

  As a preferred configuration, completely flat rings 130 and 140 are formed at the upper and lower ends of the elastic member 100 in the axial direction. Therefore, the step starting from the top and the step starting from the bottom of the elastic member 100 do not have a complete spring step shape. This is because the spring cell C that they have is not formed by two corrugated rings but by a combination of one corrugated ring and a flat ring. The elastic member 100 in the embodiment of FIG. 3 has six partial spring stages plus two partial planes formed at the axial top and bottom ends 130,140. It becomes the composition.

  Such a structure having a plurality of stages composed of a plurality of cells arranged in parallel is particularly effective in the following points. First, a small elastic member can be manufactured. The elastic member of the present invention can obtain a compressive force having the same strength with a size that occupies about 50% of the axial space occupied when compared with a conventional spiral spring. Thus, the elastic member of the present invention is particularly suitable for short deformation strokes (eg, deformation up to about 20 millimeters (mm)). Short deformation strokes are a feature of pumps and valves used in the pharmaceutical industry. In addition, the elastic member 100 of the present invention has a strong property of preventing creep when stress is applied. This is because the elastic member 100 is formed in a form in which several cells are connected in parallel, and is different from a spiral spring configured by simply arranging a plurality of cells and windings in a series. .

  Furthermore, the elastic deformation force is distributed substantially uniformly or uniformly throughout each cell. Such a configuration is advantageous in terms of preventing the life of the spring and the change of the spring performance over time, because the region where the stress is strongly applied for each drive does not occur. This effect is further enhanced by the fact that the top and bottom rings are completely flat. This is because the deforming force in the axial direction is uniformly distributed over the entire spring cell by these rings.

  In addition, depending on the type of dispenser device in which the elastic member is used, depending on the thickness of the spring, the cross section of the spring (circular, rectangular or other shape), the material of the spring, and the dimensions of the spring cell Can be adjusted significantly. The present invention is used in particular in fluid dispenser devices in the field of medicine, in particular in devices that administer liquid or powder drugs using pumps, valves, powder inhalers, single inhalers, etc. It is done.

  The elastic member 100 is preferably manufactured using a synthetic material, specifically by an injection molding method or a metal molding method. This is particularly useful for eliminating the risk of adverse interactions between the elastic member and the fluid to be administered. For example, the elastic member 100 can be made of POM. Other materials are also conceivable. In addition, it is effective to add one or more materials that increase elasticity and / or materials that prevent creep (for example, glass fibers or carbon nanotubes) to the synthetic material.

  While the present invention has been described above with reference to the accompanying drawings, the present invention is not limited to the attached drawings. Rather, those skilled in the art will be able to make useful changes without departing from the scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims.

Claims (9)

A fluid dispenser member (10) comprising a body (11) and manually driven dispenser means (20) movable between a rest position and a dosing position within the body (11),
The dispenser means (20) is elastically biased toward the rest position by the elastic member (100),
The elastic member (100) forms a spring stage (N) in which a plurality of spring cells (C) are arranged in parallel around the longitudinal axis (X) of the elastic member (100),
The elastic member (100) has a plurality of spring stages (..., N-1, N, N + 1, ...) stacked in the longitudinal axis (X),
The spring stage (N) has an upper corrugated ring (110) having a plurality of corrugated portions and a lower corrugated ring (120) having a plurality of corrugated portions,
The relative arrangement of the upper side and the lower side of the wavy portion is such that a plurality of contact points (P) between the upper wavy ring (110) and the lower wavy ring (120) is the vertical axis (X ) Around the center,
A spring cell (C) is formed between two adjacent contact points (P) of the spring stage (N),
The elastic member is manufactured by injection molding of POM which is a synthetic material;
A fluid dispenser member. The upper corrugated ring of the spring stage (N) forms the lower corrugated ring of the spring stage (N + 1) located immediately above, and the lower corrugated ring of the spring stage (N) is located immediately below. Forming the upper corrugated ring of the spring stage (N-1);
The fluid dispenser member according to claim 1. The position of the contact point of the spring stage (N) is shifted from the position of the contact point of the spring stage (N + 1) immediately above and the spring stage (N-1) immediately above, and the contact point of the spring stage (N) is Located in the middle of the two contact points of the immediately upper spring stage (N + 1) and further in the middle of the two contact points of the immediately lower spring stage (N-1), whereby the elasticity of each spring cell The deformation force is distributed substantially uniformly throughout each spring cell;
The fluid dispenser member according to claim 2. The upper and lower ends of the elastic member (100) in the axial direction are formed by flat rings (130, 140);
The fluid dispenser member according to any one of claims 1 to 3. The synthetic material includes a material having one or both of a property of enhancing elasticity and a property of preventing creep, that is, one or both of glass fiber and carbon nanotube,
The fluid dispenser member according to claim 1, wherein: The fluid is a liquid or powder drug;
The fluid dispenser member according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein: The dispenser member is a pump or valve, the dispenser means is a pump piston or valve member, and the elastic member forms a return spring of the pump or valve;
The fluid dispenser member according to any one of claims 1 to 6. The dispenser member is a compressed air discharger, the dispenser means is a piston of the compressed air discharger, and the elastic member forms a return spring of the compressed air discharger;
The fluid dispenser member according to any one of claims 1 to 7.   9. A fluid dispenser device comprising a reservoir for storing the fluid and further comprising a fluid dispenser member (10) according to any one of the preceding claims.

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